Stephen A. Smith Critiques Travis Kelce's Lackluster NFL Performance

To put it bluntly, Travis Kelce's performances in the first two games of the season have left much to be desired, and Stephen A. Smith is not letting it go unnoticed.

While the Kansas City Chiefs secured victories in their first two games of the NFL season, Travis has managed only four catches for 39 receiving yards combined, causing criticism from Stephen A. Smith.

According to Essential Sports, the sports analyst spoke out after Travis' second underwhelming performance, claiming, "We saw more Taylor Swift than we saw Travis Kelce yesterday on a Sunday afternoon and any other time that’s applicable."

"That ain’t supposed to happen yesterday," Smith added. "We were supposed to see more Travis Kelce yesterday than we saw her. That’s not happening. You got to get it going, bro. You got 39 receiving yards in the first two games. Come on now, it’s time."

"Football season is here. The honeymoon’s over. Let’s handle our business,” Smith continued when on ESPN’s "First Take."

While he is now slamming the NFL player for his poor performance, he has continuously backed Taylor and Travis' relationship, especially amongst the hate from sports fans.

“He is a two-time Super Bowl champion, he’s on the verge of potentially being a three-time Super Bowl champion,” the sports analyst said of Travis Kelce last year. “He’s universally recognized as one of the greatest tight ends in the history of football.”

“He is a good-looking dude, got style, got flair," he continued. "He’s got skills. He’s got a future in [the media] once he retires from football [...] he's the total package.”

Naturally, he couldn't discuss Travis's appearance without bringing up Taylor Swift's as well, acknowledging, “Taylor Swift is a good-looking woman, she is an incredible artist — I went to her concert with my daughters."

After a sluggish start to the season, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce has caught only three passes for a total of 39 yards and no touchdowns through the first two games.

At 34 years old, Travis emphasized that he is no longer focused solely on his individual stats.

“I stopped caring about stats about four or five years ago,” he said on his podcast “New Heights” last week. “I just went out there and started to play free and play for my guys. Sure enough, I think that’s the better mentality. You think about it more play-by-play and what your job is on that specific play.”

During the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, September 15, he managed just one catch for five yards, marking the first time since September 2018 that he had fewer than three receptions in a game.

“For whatever reason, these past two games it hasn’t gone that way for me,” he told his brother Jason Kelce on their podcast. “That’s football, man. I’m not about to sit here and get frustrated about it. I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time from not having that success knowing I demand that out of myself."

He added, "I just like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that it’s tough for me to deal with me being mediocre or having stats that represent that.”

Despite Travis' disappointing performance, the Chiefs are off to a 2-0 start this season, a success he attributes to the strong efforts of his teammates on the defensive side of the field.

“I think the defense is playing their asses off,” Travis gushed. “Getting turnovers, finding a way to make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable. They’re really making it hard for them to throw the ball downfield with the type of pressures that we’re getting and how good our coverage is right now.”

He added, “We have to match that accountability on the offensive side to really become another Super Bowl-caliber team. I put that on me. I think it starts with the leaders. I think it starts with making sure you go in with the right mentality.”

The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, September 22.